World’s second-longest girders installed over I-5 in Fife

 Construction crews in Fife are installing some nearly record-breaking concrete girders over the freeway this weekend.

According to the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the girders being placed are to support the new State Route 167 (SR 167) Bridge over Interstate 5 (I-5). The girders will be the second-longest precast concrete girders installed in the world.

Work crews installed three of those gargantuan girders overnight Friday and Saturday morning, and will continue the work Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Peace and quiet ahead: Boylston Ave off-ramp to shut down for noise walls

So exactly how long are the second-longest precast girders in the world? They come up just four inches short of the world record at 222 feet and nine inches in length.

Amazingly, our state is also home to the world’s longest precast girders, according to WSDOT. Those girders were installed on I-5 over the Puyallup River at 223 feet in length.

How will all this record-breaking construction work affect you?

All lanes will be closed overnight this weekend from State Route 18 (SR 18) to 54th Avenue E.

If drivers plan to get through Fife, expect lane reductions to begin around 7 p.m., with all northbound lanes closed by 10:30 p.m. and southbound lanes by 11 p.m. In the morning, crews will begin reopening lanes at 8 a.m., with all lanes reopened by noon. The ramps to SR 18 and Port of Tacoma Road will also be shut down.

Those same closures are expected to take place for the next two weekends.

The giant girders being installed are just one portion of the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County. It’s a big part of the Puget Sound Gateway Program, which also includes the State Route 509 Completion Project in King County.

The project will complete two major unfinished highways, creating new connections to Interstate Five from Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle.

When finished, the new roads will provide six new miles of electronically-tolled highway between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma. The project will also include sidewalks and bike trails.

More Washington roads news: All I-5 north lanes are clear in Tumwater after being blocked due to 2 collisions

A third stage of construction begins in 2025 and is expected to last a couple of years. It will widen SR 167 between North Meridian Avenue and State Route 410 and build a diverging diamond interchange at North Meridian Avenue. That phase of the project will also construct an embankment between the Puyallup Recreation Center and North Meridian Avenue and build a 12-mile regional trail between Tacoma and Puyallup.

The fourth and final stage is slated to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2029. It will build SR 167 between the Puyallup Recreation Center and I-5, complete a diverging diamond interchange at I-5 and build six new bridges. The project will also include a new half-interchange at Valley Avenue, complete the Tacoma-Puyallup trail and restore and preserve 113 acres of wetlands.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Tom Brock is a weekend editor, reporter and anchor for KIRO Newsradio.